One of my most favorite things of having a store for these past almost 28 years, is the wonderful people I meet. This past Sunday was an example of that.
This couple came in; I recognized them from when we both were getting our morning fortification from Tallulah 1882. He asked me about my old ironing board out on the back porch. Did I want to sell it? He has painted on them before. Since it was part of my old wooden ironing board collection that got started when I was 16, I politely said I’d want to sell it for a lot of money! We talked a bit and the sweet lady with him said that not only was he an excellent painter/artist but has an amazing singing voice as well. Being a lover of live music, I off the cuff requested a seranade, not really expecting it to happen but knew I would be delighted if it did!
We said our goodbyes and then very soon after they left, in they walk with Charlie carrying an accoustic guitar and he proceeds to sing directly to me, right there at the front counter!! Music has a way, as it does with most people, of touching my heart/soul/spirit and when it does, my eyes will leak. Lol!! I love it when music stirs my soul like that.
Charlie and Christine proceed to hang out with me on the front porch. Being early on a Sunday, not too many people were around. I got to hear more of his singing.
We also had been talking about my story….about how I got to be at The General Store, what was the road that brought me here. They wanted to hear all about it so I proceeded to tell them the WHOLE story, all the way back to Mammy Lake, my great grandmother, the mother of T.F. Lake, who was a widow in Kentucky, farming the family land. She struck oil. Not quite the Beverly Hills version of striking oil on your farm, but she did have enough earnings from it to convince my grandfather, T.F. Lake, to come back to Kentucky and start a general store! (See my previous to learn more about Daddy Tom’s general store!) Charlie said he’d love to write a song about it.
So he started one! Right there and then! Just some of the magic and great stuff that happens when you take the time to enjoy the front porch! Just a sweet snippet of the magic and wonder that is The General Store!
Hope to have Charlie and Christine come back and join us at the Tallulah Falls Opry House across the street and at Tallulah Adventures when they get their outdoor concerts going. Stay tuned!